Paying back in same coin

Rani was just twenty when her alcoholic father gave her in marriage to a forty five year old ugly looking pock marked Velayudham for the few thousands he received. She had no mother to look up to. All her cries and the pleas of neighbours fell on deaf ears as he forced her to marry that widower. He took her away to his place and guarded her from all eyes. He never allowed her to go out and ordered her to remain within the house.. He even locked the house when he went out. He was suspicious if she talked to anyone and would want to know what she talked about. Being an older man, he had nagging doubts about his physical ability to please a much younger wife and he got irritated whenever she showed amorous tendencies to him. He avoided her. Lacking in self confidence, he beat her frequently and used abusive epithets.
There was one young man Murugan living not far from Rani’s house. He was living with his mother and they knew the cruel and suspicious nature of Velayudham.They empathized with her as they knew her pitiable condition. His mother used to visit Rani whenever Velayudham was not there and console her. The talks with the old lady were soothing balm to the neglected young girl. It so happened that one day when Murugan could not find his mother at home, he came in search of her to Rani’s house. As he was enquiring her about the whereabouts of his mother, Velayudham came unexpectedly .Seeing his wife talking to the young man, he flew into rage, abused Murugan of having dishonest intentions and pushed her inside the house. He beat her legs with a log of wood telling that he would break them so that she cannot run away. The poor girl was rescued by neighbours but she had to limp thereafter. She hated him from the bottom of the heart but could not escape from him as she had none to look to. She was afraid he will catch her and inflict more injury on her.
It so happened that Velayudham fell sick with high fever and some other related conditions. There was nothing he could do as Rani had to go out to fetch medicines, grocery etc.When she went to get the medicines from the pharmacy, the thoughts of how her life had been rendered a failure and how her dreams of being married to a handsome young man had been crushed by her husband came to her mind. The total incompatibility in the way they thought, and dissatisfaction in meeting her physical needs and above all living like a prisoner within four walls stood stark in her face. Her revulsion for him was at its highest. When she returned home she found the pharmacy had given her wrong medicines intended for somebody else. Bitter with him in her heart, she decided to keep quiet.
She opened the wrong packet given by pharmacy to find many tablets in different sizes and colours.She coolly gave these along with water when he opened his mouth. She didn’t know whether it would affect him or not but was sure they were not the right medicines for curing him. She loathed him so much that she cared little for him.Soon he was drowsy with his eyelids feeling heavy. He could not sit up for his dinner. She gave him the gruel with some more of the wrong medicines. The next day morning he tried to get up from the bed but could not stand as his legs were wobbly and weak. It appeared to him that the muscles had lost their strength. He became disoriented and unable to focus. He was totally bed ridden. She continued with the wrong medicine till he lost his ability to walk but she did not leave him though she could have .
After a week when she brought the doctor and showed his condition without telling about the wrong medication, the doctor prescribed another set of medicines. This time she gave the right ones but while he recovered from all ailments, he could not gain his ability to walk. He was confined to bed and chair It was one evening she came along with Murugan and handed over him her divorce papers. She told him “Your filthy mind will assume all sorts of wrong ideas about my relationship with this young man. He is like my elder brother who has helped me get out of this wretched place. You broke my leg out of your suspicion and inability to keep your wife happy. As a retribution, you will suffer all through your life” As he lay dumbfounded,she limped out happily released from bondage once and for all.
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